On the Run
by VerdiTheTRex
Summary: What if the Black Swan didn't agree for the Keeper crew to run away to their hideout? This is a fanfic about what would've happened to them if they were outlaws.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"...so we think you should go. It would be safer." Alden's crisp accent said.

The group was deciding to go with the Black Swan. No one felt comfortable running away to a group of rebels, but at least the Black Swan had a specialty: staying in the shadows.

All of the parents shuffled nervously but didn't object. They too knew it was safer to go with the Black Swan. Of course, the Black Swan have some weaknesses. Only they and their enemies knew them. For everyone else they were still a mystery.

Keefe didn't seem certain the Black Swan was safe. Maybe they were just saf _er._ "I think we should sleep on it." And they did. Quite literally.

Right when the sunlight flowed down the crystal halls, a terrible scream pierced the morning air. Fitz ran into the guest room where Sophie slept the night she came to the Lost Cities. " _Biana's gone!"_ Fitz yelled. "The Neverseen are here!" Sophie got out of bed and rushed into the hallway. Sure enough, figures with dark cloaks were aiming melders and throwing exploding spheres.

"Sophie!" Alden shouted. "Leap out of here!" Alden was tackling a figure and pulled off their hood.

 _It was the jogger who tried to kidnap her._

"Not without you!" Sophie yelled back, ready to drop everyone in the room with her inflicting.

"Sophie." Sophie whirled around to find three hooded elves bearing the white eye, the symbol of the Neverseen. They pulled back their hoods to reveal Fintan and two other figures she didn't know. Or she thought she didn't know them. One of the unknown elves resembled Alden's sharp features and Della's eyes.

"Alvar?" Sophie asked quietly. She had only seen the oldest Vacker son once. That was when they didn't know the name of the Neverseen. "You're with the Neverseen?"

Alvar smiled. It wasn't a cruel smile, or a joyful maniacal smile. It was the pained expression when someone asks if you're okay and you're not but you don't want to worry them, but at the same time you need to talk to someone about your emotions.

"Yes." Fintan said. _His_ smile was a maniacal smile. He took pleasure in destroying a family. "And now he is going to prove his commitment."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Really Alvar?" The anger in Alden's voice was clear. There was another feeling Sophie couldn't put into a word. Betrayal maybe? "All these years you've been lying to us?"

"I'm doing something that'll benefit the Vacker legacy." Alvar said. There was that word again. Legacy. What does it mean?

"Okay, Alvar. Now prove your commitment." Fintan handed Alvar a torch he seemed to pull out of nowhere. Fintan flicked his wrist, and the torch sparked to life. This was normal fire, not Everblaze.

"What are you going to do?" Alden asked, trying to sound calm.

Alvar said,"I'm going to burn my family's house with everyone I used to love in it." Alvar emphasized the _used to._ He made it clear he didn't care about anyone or anything other than his _legacy._ That made Sophie sick.

"No, you're not." Sophie didn't realize she said that until everyone looked at her.

"Yes, we are." Fintan sparked a ball of Everblaze above himself. His lips curled into the world's most ugly smile. "And so it begins."

As soon as he said that, chaos broke out: melders firing at long distance, people tackling each other, Everblaze flying around, and goblin throwing stars soaring to their target. Apparently Sandor had called for backup. Grady, Edaline, and Della also came running into the hall after hearing the chaos.

Alvar snuck through the chaos, snaking though fights and assisting the Neverseen members. He finally made it to the dining hall where the chandelier hung, with Sophie hot on his tail.

Alvar had made it up to the crystal chandelier in the dining hall by levitating, and the fight followed him. Sophie levitated after him, but he threw a large chunk of crystal at her, narrowly missing her. She fell to the floor, to find herself in a mess of screaming, fire, and destruction. After many explosions and screaming, Keefe, Fitz, Sophie, and Dex were tied up in rope under the chandelier. Alden, Della, Edaline, and Grady were locked in separate bedrooms with a Neverseen member in each room. As for the goblins, Sophie didn't know where they were. Fintan was right in front of them, signaling for Alvar to bring the chandelier down on them. Then the whole house would burn.

"Alvar, spark the crystal." Fintan ordered. Alvar touched the bright, orange flame to the chandelier. The group only had a few seconds to live. Fintan laughed as the horror showed on their faces."Good-bye, Moonlark." All of the Neverseen members filed out of the room. They stopped at each bedroom to bring a member out after tying up their hostages.

 _Fitz, can you hear me?_ Sophie transmitted.

 _Yeah._ He replied. _We're going to die so I'm just going to say—_

 _No._ Sophie transmitted firmly. _We are not dying. Here's the plan..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

 **(A/N) Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. This is my first fanfic and thanks for supporting me! I'm going to try and make this chapter longer- maybe twice as long as chapter two? Also, please leave constructive criticism or positive reviews. It helps me feel like people like my writing! I won't respond to negative comments or any sort of profanity.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **TEAM SOPHIE: thanks for telling me about Gethen being the jogger. I wasn't sure if they had found out in the third book. Also thank you for being the first to review** _ **On the Run.**_

 **bookboysarebetter: thank you for being positive about my very short story (so far). I am definitely going to continue it, so please keep reading!**

 **I might've spelled some elven words wrong, so if you find any misspelled elven words, please comment and I'll try to fix them! Okay, you've got a story to read. Here we go!**

After the Neverseen had all light leaped away, Sophie turned to her friends. "We aren't dying today. I have a plan." All her friends struggled to turn around in the ropes. "Dex, do you have anything to cut these ropes?"

"Yeah, I always keep a pocket knife from when we were in the Forbidden Cities," Dex replied, holding up a small, shiny, silver blade no longer than his little finger.

"Great. Keefe, you get some Frissyn and Quicksnuff to put out the flames. Fitz and I will go and free our parents."

"Okay." Keefe said, running through a crack in the wall made by an exploding gadget after Dex cut them all free.

"Now what do I do?" Dex asked.

"Look for the goblins. Biana was taken by the Neverseen," Sophie said, and after seeing Fitz's tears streaming down his face, she added,"We'll get her back soon."

Dex ran through the crystal halls that were quickly burning. Sophie realized that they needed Frissyn really fast. And a lot.

Fitz and Sophie ran down the halls unlocking doors, not stopping to see if anyone was inside any of the rooms they unlocked. After ten minutes that seemed to stretch on forever, the Cognates freed all of the parents. Alden led everyone out of an emergency exit in the back room, and everyone collected Quicksnuff to put out the normal fire. Keefe came jogging back with Councillor Terik and Councillor Oralie. They each were carrying bags as big as their heads.

"Sophie! This is all the Frissyn we've got!" Keefe yelled. The Councillors and parents began putting out the fires.

Edaline walked over to the kids. "Why don't you kids go to Havenfield? That's where Sandor went. Dex is with him."

"Fine. But come home soon!" Sophie said.

"Grady and I will."

Sophie dug out her home crystal and held it up to the light. A glowing pathway of light appeared in front of Sophie. Her friends all stepped into the light together.

The fields of Havenfield shimmered into view. Fitz crumpled to the ground in a heap, crying and mumbling that "he should've done better." It took Keefe and Sophie to pull him back up. Sophie did some positive inflicting on Fitz to bring him back. As soon as Keefe and Sophie got Fitz back on his feet, he fell back down. Sophie yelled for Sandor who dragged Fitz to the front door of Havenfield. Fitz finally pulled himself together and stood up when Dex met them at the door.

"What took you so long?" Dex asked as he grinned, showing his dimples. When he saw everyone's dried up tears from crying about Biana, he just grinned more.

"Why are you so happy?" Sophie asked. "Biana got kidnapped." Right at the moment Sophie's last words were off her tongue, someone jumped out of nowhere and tackled Fitz.

"Biana!" Fitz and Keefe simultaneously exclaimed.

"She knocked out her kidnapper and vanished," Dex explained. "Then she walked, and I said walked, all the way from Everglen to Havenfield." Everyone gaped and stared at Biana like she was a celebrity. Unfortunately, elves didn't have celebrities. Fitz, Sophie and Keefe stayed in that position for so long, Sandor went back into Havenfield.

"I Bramble-tackled him," Biana said, breaking the stretching silence."Who knew Bramble could come in handy?"

Sophie was about to joke about playing Base Quest to see how Biana tackled the Neverseen member, but Biana beat her to it. "Want to play BQ since I just practiced a little bit?"

"Sure!" everyone answered. They all thought it would be good to have some fun after a very long and violent day.

"I call Foster on my team!" Keefe yelled.

 **(A/N) I know, the description says they're outlaws. But they need to have fun before they almost die, right (was that a spoiler?)? They're going to break the law soon. So just keep on reading and being patient! Also sorry for not having the chapter as long as you might have expected. I just had to have some BQ in this chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N) This time I'll make the chapter a little longer. I reached 1k+ words in** _ **On the Run**_ **! I know that for some people that's not a lot, but it is for me. Sorry for the short chapters! I haven't had a lot of time to post this last week, so I made this chapter longer (no joke this time). Also, I've gotten like ten more reviews, so instead of responding to the reviews, I'll just say the usernames.**

 **Thank you to**

 **TEAM SOPHIE**

 **Dust Bunny**

 **K.J.**

 **Mystery1224**

 **TheBooksAreBetterThanTheMovies**

 **BuddingWriter101**

 **for reviewing (Some posted more than one review).**

 **Here we go!**

 **Chapter Four**

Keefe, Sophie and Dex were on one team. Biana and Fitz were on the other. They decided that Fitz and Biana should be the team of two because Biana was a Vanisher and Fitz could track thoughts. Sophie's team was questing first.

"Come on, team Sokeefex! Let's win this!" Keefe shouted enthusiastically. He bounced up and down and pumped his fists in the air.

Sophie and Dex just rolled their eyes and looked at Keefe like he was a six-year-old child waiting for his turn on a roller coaster. Of course, elves didn't have roller coasters, or even amusement parks.

"Is Sokeefex even a name?" Sophie asked. Everyone but Keefe shook their heads. Keefe's shoulders sagged like he had just lost a spelling bee he studied months for, but Keefe's eyes lit up and he immediately jumped up like he was electrocuted. He was suddenly happy again, which probably meant that he just got an idea — for pranking, that is.

"Let's just play already," Biana said. "This fence in our base." Biana pointed to the fence separating Havenfield's pastures from the beach.

"Okay." Sophie said. "Calla's tree is ours." Now when someone mentioned Calla's name, Sophie's sad memories of their gnome friend wouldn't surface. In fact, quite the opposite would happen - her _happy_ memories would come up.

Biana and Fitz went to their base. Biana was last defense since she could become invisible. Fitz could track thoughts, so he was the "hunter." When Biana said it like that, Keefe teased her like crazy about not liking him so much to kill him. Biana's face flushed into a brighter shade of red than the blush she used in her makeup kit.

"Alright, we're ready!" Fitz yelled. Sophie, Keefe, and Dex split up. Sophie snuck through the enclosures, hoping that the animals wouldn't pay attention to her. She didn't need Biana to sneak up behind her because the animals all looked at Sophie. And she _really_ didn't want to end up as verminion food.

Sophie was about to make it out of the mammoth's enclosure without being eaten when she stepped on a dried leaf. The whole herd of wooly mammoths stopped munching on the pellets of food that Sophie thought looked suspiciously like turquoise rabbit poop and turned their heads — or what Sophie thought were heads — to face her.

 _Great._ Sophie thought. _Now Biana's gonna know I'm here._ Right as she finished that thought, a cloaked figure pulled Sophie into a path of light and light leaped them to what looked like the cave that Mr. Forkle gave her the limbium to fix her abilities. The figure put a gloved hand over Sophie's mouth to block her scream.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Sophie." The figure had a calm, quiet voice. The figure was definitely a female. Sophie swore she knew the voice from somewhere.

"Are you with the Neverseen?" Sophie asked after the figure removed her hand from Sophie's mouth. Sophie had so many questions, but that one slipped out instead of," Who are you?" since Sophie couldn't find the white eye — the symbol of the Neverseen — on the sleeve of the cloak. Instead, she saw a double-sided axe with another double-sided axe on the other side of the handle. There were pointy spikes lining the edges of both (or should I say all four) axes. She wondered what that weapon was. Not that she wanted to see one in person.

The cloaked woman caught her looking at the symbol. "That's a Dualabrys." The woman said, gesturing to the symbol. "That's the symbol for our group."

"Isn't 'Labrys' the Greek term for a symmetrical double-bitted axe?" Sophie asked. She only knew that because she had to study Greek weaponry and compare it to modern weapons in high school when she was living with humans. She _definitely_ didn't try to sound smart. The large selection of vocabulary **(ha, I used big words too)** just came out. The last thing she needed was another person that thought she was a nerd. She had enough of that in her years living with humans.

The figure shrugged. "Humans got a lot of their terms from us elves. I wouldn't be surprised if they took this term too. But I've brought you here to discuss another matter, so you might want to sit and listen." The room was bare, so they both took the cross-legged position on the cold, hard floor.

"First off, I want to tell you that I'm here to recruit you. My rebellion is called the Vengeance. I understand your enemies are the group called the Neverseen, and that is our number one enemy too. So, we'd like to have you in our group." The woman said. Sophie didn't know how she knew so much about her. Were they watching her, just like the Black Swan had? "Before you decide," the figure continued," you're welcome to ask any questions and I'll answer them the best I can and with complete honesty."

She sounded completely genuine, so Sophie decided to ask the question bubbling in the back of her head. The stranger didn't seem to know that Sophie was part of the Black Swan, so Sophie didn't mention anything about that. "First, I'd like to know your name and see you face." Sophie didn't want to join a group she didn't know anyone in.

The woman hesitated for just a second before answering. "My name is Kalendi, and..." She pulled off her hood to reveal a face that looked like... Jolie. Same blond hair, same turquoise eyes. Sophie seemed frozen in place, gaping at Kalendi. Kalendi looked about the age of Fitz, maybe a year older. She looked almost exactly like Jolie.

"A-are you Jo-Jolie's da-daughter?" Sophie stuttered. She was so shocked, she didn't realize that Kalendi had light leaped them back to Havenfield's pastures before Sophie had spoken.

Kalendi hesitated another time before answering, but this time was longer. "Yes, I am. Now I'll leave you to think about my offer." Kalendi interrupted Sophie's thoughts that had just started spinning. Her body dissolved into the light, leaving Sophie alone with her musings. She was so deep in her thoughts, she didn't notice her friends walk into the pasture, laughing and playfully shoving each other.

"Wow! This is where you've been this who -" Dex stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Sophie's confused expression as she looked up. "Are you alright?"

"Mm-hmm." Sophie said, not exactly meeting his eyes. She wasn't a very convincing liar.

"Are you sure?" Dex asked, not giving up.

Sophie nodded. Dex finally gave up pushing and sat down cross-legged next to Sophie. Everyone copied him.

 _You look like you need to talk,_ Fitz transmitted. _You know you can talk to me._

 _Fine._ Sophie replied telepathically, letting Fitz win.

 _Want to talk with the others or alone?_ Fitz asked. As Keefe was about to tease them about transmitting, Fitz shushed him and waved him away.

 _We can be with the others._ Sophie decided after ten long seconds. Then she switched back to verbally talking.

"Okay guys, it's a long story, so we might want to go inside." All her friends followed her into Havenfield and sank into the cushy pillows of the couch. Then she started from the very beginning of her encounter with the Vengeance.

 **(A/N) I know, the Vengeance is a ship. I just needed a synonym for revenge or avenge. The Avengers would sound like the superhero group, and Revengers just sounds wrong. Don't forget to review if you liked this chapter, or especially if you found a grammar or spelling error. Goodbye for now! Until next time... (that sounded creepy. Sorry!)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Sophie flopped onto her bed, exhausted. Right when she finished explaining how the Vengeance attempted to recruit her, her friends had exploded her eardrums with objections and yelling. She might join the Vengeance just to get back at them for destroying her eardrums.

Then she saw the footprints. She thought about calling Sandor, but then she remembered that he wasn't there. He was still healing from his fall off of Mount Everest. Sophie opened her mind and _listened._ After she was sure nobody was there, she cautiously stood up and walked to her nightstand. She saw a strip of paper and picked it up. She read in a quiet whisper, "Join our group by using this crystal. Hold it up to balefire, and it will take you to us. If you complete the test, you can be a member of the Vengeance. Hurry now. The Neverseen are near.

-Kalendi."

At that moment, Sophie knew what to do. She hurried down the stairs, quickly explained she was going to Atlantis, and jumped off the nearest cliff. She visualized the crystal streets of Atlantis, the balefire lights, and all of the people bustling through the busy city. Eventually she heard thunder crack, and she was entering the void. She visualized Atlantis again, and this time she materialized on a busy road. She narrowly avoided being hit by a sea-scorpion-pulled chariot. Then she spotted a crystal tower with balefire flickering inside of it. She started climbing up the wall, despite the yelling and pointing at her which was hard to pull off. When she got to the top of the wall after falling 800 times (she counted. That was no exaggeration), she found a brighter crystal than the others on the tower and held the leaping crystal up to the light.

"This is it." She whispered to herself, letting the light whisk her away to who knows where.

And when she materialized in the cavern, she let out a shrill scream.

 **(A/N) Sorry for the cliffhanger. Well, not sorry. :D I realized that there were easier ways to get balefire, but I don't care. I'm having trouble writing long chapters, but I still have ideas. Just know that I'm going to write short chapters like this, not the 1k+ chapters! And thanks for reading! 'Till next time...**


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N) Ok, prepare for another short chapter. This one is going to have most of the ideas I wanted to write in this story at the beginning, so I'm going to have to think of more. It might take a while, but thanks for staying to read this story for this whole time!**

 **Chapter Six**

Sophie stared in horror at the images of every elf that had hurt her. Emotionally, physically — all of the elves that hurt her in any way. There were even humans in the mix of them. Sophie saw an image of her mean third grade teacher. Some that stood out were Brant, Fintan, and Stina. Sophie wasn't surprised that Stina was in the crowd. Sophie was just confused that there were strangers in the crowd. Elves she hadn't ever seen shuffled around aimlessly, occasionally stopping to shoot a glare at her.

A deep, rumbling voice echoed through the cavern. "You have come." Sophie jumped three feet into the air. "We've been expecting you."

The flickering images of the people who hurt her back up to give Sophie space. She looked up at the top of the humungous cave. The cavern seemed to stretch up into the darkness forever. She thought she saw a pair of glowing red eyes, but she decided she was hallucinating.

"Who are you?" Sophie demanded, looking up into the void of nothingness. "And where is the Vengeance?"

"I _am_ the Vengeance. I am the first creation of their rebellion." As the voice spoke, Sophie realized she was talking to a machine. Man, their mechanical voices sounded _nothing_ like any human A.I.'s.

"Are you a machine?" Sophie asked.

"Yes and no. I am the greatest creation of the Vengeance." The voice replied. "They gave me feelings and thoughts. I am the one to test new recruits." Sophie panicked. She was being tested? When she was tested to join the elves, she didn't do very well.

"You're testing me?" Sophie couldn't hide the tremble in her voice. She hated being tested.

"Yes, and it starts now." All of the images drew weapons. The humans grabbed guns from what seemed like no where, and elves drew melders from their cape pockets. They all surrounded her and were about to fire when Sophie held up her hand in a fist, and a Dualabrys appeared in her hand.

 **(A/N) Another cliffhanger. Yippee! Well, not for you, but I'll update soon! Hopefully I'll have some ideas. Goodbyes! (I purposely put the "s" there.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N) Hi guys! I'm super excited for this chapter, and I hope you guys like it. And sorry to those who hate my cliffhangers (yes, I'm looking at** _ **you,**_ **Ellie). Also, I haven't been getting many reviews (probably 'cause I haven't updated in a while), so don't forget to review! If you ask a question in a review, I'll respond. Otherwise, I'll just say your username.**

 **Reviewers:**

 **BlackSwanGirl**

 **strawbr'yblond periwinkle love**

 **Guest**

 **Ellie (guest)**

 **RR to questions (I already said your names above, but I'll put them again):**

 **BlackSwanGirl: The Dualabrys was described in chapter four at Sophie and Kalendi's conversation. It's a labrys (a double-bitted axe with two sides) with another double axe head on the back of the handle. Sorry, I should have clarified better.**

 **Ellie (guest): I'm sorry for short chapters (do I say that too much?), and I'll try harder to make less cliffhangers. Just one last one? And by the way, I** _ **am**_ **updating every week. Thank you for the review!**

 **Okay, here's chapter seven!**

 **Chapter Seven**

All of the elves and humans flickered and disappeared. The Voice (it still didn't tell Sophie its name, or even if it had a name) even went silent. But Sophie was the most confused of all.

"What... what just happened?" Sophie asked in a small voice. She stared in amazement and confusion at the axe. She was scared, too. How had that happened?

Another second of silence passed before the Voice spoke again. "You passed the test." Sophie wondered how other elves passed the test. Was she going to be the odd one out in the Vengeance? Or was it better that she summoned the Dualabrys?

"Do you want to go to one of our hideouts now, or do you want to wait?" The Voice asked. "You will get the choice. If you wait, we will create a time to meet."

Sophie knew she should get back to Havenfield. She'd already been away for too long. Grady and Edaline were probably worrying right now. They know that she hates shopping, so they would find it suspicious that she'd suddenly wanted to shop.

"I think… I think I'm gonna wait. Um, do I get to approve of the time?" Sophie asked. "Because, you know I have school I still go to Foxfire." She didn't want to get detention again. _Especially_ if Lady Cadence is supervising.

"We will create a time that will not interrupt your... schedule." The Voice said. "Any questions?"

Sophie could think of about 3,000 questions to ask, but the Voice still didn't answer her first question. "What is your name?" Sophie asked.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot that I have a a name. I've been in this cavern for sixteen years without anyone visiting, so I hope you can understand. Ah, that was it. My name was Opticalium, I believe. I can manipulate the light into any shape. I can also light leap anyone anywhere without any crystal."

"Wow." Sophie said, amazed. "I'm guessing that's how I'm going home?"

"Correct. I will leave a note in your room with the meeting time." Opticalium said. "Farewell for now, Sophie Elizabeth Foster. We will meet soon." A blinding burst of light flooded into the humongous cave and surround Sophie. The light whisked her away as she gaped at the dark, empty cave.

Sophie materialized on her bed. She fluffed up the flower petals on her carper, and then she grabbed Ella. She snuggled up in her covers and drifted off into the realm of nightmares.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In her dreams, she was back in the cave with Opticalium. Except, the voice wasn't Opticalium. It was the ghostly whisper of Fintan. "You will pay." said his raspy voice. "The next time we meet, you will pay." Then the dark and empty cavern exploded with fire, — balefire, regular fire, Everblaze. They were all there. — and then the scene shifted.

Sophie was sitting under Calla's tree. She was looking into a pocket mirror. It showed her face the same as it always did, but then her face faded and instead it showed Foxfire burning down. Four figures in black cloaks were strolling out of the building as if it wasn't collapsing. Every time a chunk of glass or a tree would fall towards them, one of the figures would wave their hand under the object and it would bounce off of an invisible force. The nightmare faded into yet another dream, this on the worst.

All of her friends were tied up in two inch thick rope, and their parents were tied up right next to them. Figures in dark cloaks, which Sophie assumed were the Neverseen, were walking in circles around them. One sparked a ball of Everblaze, and started cackling creepily. Then everything went dark.

Sophie woke up sweating and panting. She thought she wouldn't have any more nightmares, but apparently she'd been wrong. She rolled over in bed and noticed a small bottle laying on her night stand. The was a rolled-up sheet of paper inside of the clear, turquoise bottle.

Sophie sat up in her bed and reached to grab the bottle. Then she stopped herself. She looked down at her flower carpet. There were no footprints there. The window wasn't open either. Then Sophie remembered that Opticalium could light leap anything, anywhere. Her shoulders relaxed as she popped open the cork on the bottle and unrolled the paper. Her eyes widened as she read the note.

"Oh, no..." She whispered to herself.

 **(A/N) Thanks for reading this chapter. I'm not going to make schedule, actually. I'm just going to post as often as I can. Bye!**


	8. Chapter 8

**(A/N) I have been really busy this week with testing and such, so I hope you can understand why I was late to update. Here's the reviews.**

 **Reviewers:**

 **Mystery1224 (guest)**

 **Ellie (guest)**

 **Okay, here's your story.**

 **Chapter Eight**

Sophie froze. She dropped the paper and it fluttered down, down, and down to the floor. It dissolved in a flash of light and another strip of paper appeared in her hand. She was scared to read it, afraid for more bad news. She mustered enough strength to bring her gaze to the paper. It read:

 _Be prepared for a light leap. I am going to transport you to my base._

Sophie barely had the time to look up from the paper when a flash of light blinded her. It was only a second before a small clearing appeared before her. It looked like a regular forest that Sophie had seen during her years living with humans.

A white orb flickered to life in the center of the clearing. She was drawn towards the sphere like a chunk of dirt being sucked up by a vacuum cleaner. She tried to resist the pull, but it was too strong. Sophie was vacuumed up as she flailed around.

 _Was this a trap?_ Sophie thought to herself. _Is this really how I'm going to die?_

Then there was a bright flash of light. It was so bright, she was sure that she would still be able to see it when she went to bed — if she even did go to bed again.

When the light died down, she found herself in a large room that looked like a lobby for a fancy hotel. A crystal chandelier hung from the center of the room, illuminating the room in a dim, blue glow. There were also some comfy-looking couches under the chandelier. There was a desk that also looked like it belonged in a hotel, too.

Sophie walked up to the table. A female elf sat there reading scrolls with elven runes and looked up as Sophie approached. "How may I help you?" The woman asked.

"Um... Opticalium sent me here." Sophie mumbled.

The lady opened a drawer in the desk and shoved the scrolls she was reading into it. "Oh, Opticalium contacted me. Said that a new recruit was coming." She said as she reached back into the drawer. "This is our main base, which is controlled by Opticalium. It is called Auroracrest." She brought out another scroll. It had small words on it.

"Here is your verbal code." The woman said, handing the scroll to Sophie. "If you say this, you'll be transported to your room in Auroracrest. If anyone tries to find you when you're here, you'll be notified. You may leave by saying the code again"

Sophie studied the scroll for a moment before speaking. "4708637144?" She read. "How will I remember that?"

The woman chuckled. "Just try as hard as you can. You can come here if you can't remember it. Just wear this at all times." She handed Sophie a small carving of a Dualabrys. It was connected to a silver necklace. Sophie slipped it over her head and onto her neck. It rested next to her registry pendant. The chain felt cool against her skin. The lady added, "Use the same code to leave your room since there's no other code."

"Okay... I think I get it. Can I use the code?"

The lady nodded. "Just one more thing. The room will be empty when you get there, but Opticalium will transport furniture there soon. Get some rest now. It's the middle of the night!"

"Thank you!" Sophie said. She took a deep breath. "470... 86... 371... 44" She still didn't know how she'd remember that.

Going to her room felt just like light leaping. She found herself in a bare room the size of her own bedroom at Havenfield. There was white tiles filling the floor.

Sophie was so exhausted, she didn't care that all there was in the room was cold, hard tiles. She didn't explore the room (not that there was much to explore — there was nothing there!) or take any time to move to another spot. She plopped down right where she was standing. Sophie woke up so early from the nightmares before she arrived at Auroracrest, she dozed off in the middle of the floor.

 **(A/N) If that was a cliffhanger, then I don't know how to end chapters without cliffhangers. If it wasn't one, you happy? I hope so. Bye!**


	9. Chapter 9

**(A/N) Hello, world of fanfiction! I am SOOOO sorry for not updating for a month (or two), I was busy. Anyways... I recently went scrolling through the stories on the Keeper fandom and saw all of the letters and stories dedicated to Project Moonlark. I probably should've written this sooner, but I hope you get better Moony! You were one of my favorite authors before I made an account, and I hope you still make stories. (This A/N is from a while ago, I just never got around to posting it, so… yeah. That's why it seems like I'm really late.)**

 **RR**

 **Ellie (guest): Thank you for being the only reviewer in the past, what month? I know right, there's so much testing! Also, thanks for forgiving me. (^_^) (Again, this is from some time ago. The new school year's already started!)**

 **Alright, here we go!**

 **Chapter Nine**

Sophie woke to a loud _clunk!_ Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in the middle of a beautiful, well-furnished room. At first she thought she was still at Havenfield, but then she remembered the past night's events.

"Oh, no." Sophie stood up shakily. She reached through her scrambled thoughts and found the password. She just realized that she forgot that she had photographic memory last night! "Four seven zero eight six three seven one four four."

Sophie ran through the path of light that had appeared in front of her. She stumbled into the lobby of Auroracrest.

"You're up early," the receptionist said. "In a rush?"

Sophie nodded. "Have to… get… back…" She panted, not because she was tired, but because she was worried. What was going to happen? She hoped the note that Opticalium had sent her was wrong.

"Can you get me… to Everglen?" She asked the receptionist. Sophie _really_ needed to get there.

"Of course." The lady replied. She opened a drawer in her desk and grabbed a clear crystal. "This'll get you outside of their gates."

Sophie accepted the crystal. The wondered if the Vengeance had a crystal to every place in the Lost Cities. Couldn't they just use a Leapmaster like every other elf?

She held the clear crystal up to the light. A beam of light formed in front on Sophie. She stepped into the light, and the fancy lobby of Auroracrest faded out of view. The glowing gates of Everglen shimmered into the place of Auroracrest.

"Alden! Della!" Sophie shouted. She pounded on the glimmering fences. "Please, someone let me in!" Alden came rushing to the gates to let her in.

"Sophie!" Alden said as he opened the gate. Then he noticed Sophie's panicked face. "What's wrong?"

"No time… to talk… must get to… Fitz and Biana…" Sophie said. She rushed past Alden and swung the grand doors of Everglen open. She sprinted up the stairs and into the hall. Sophie bursted into Fitz's room. Fitz jumped up from his bed, startled.

"What? Huh?" Fitz said. "Oh, it's just you. What's wrong?" Sophie sighed. That's exactly what his dad had said.

"We need to find Biana." Sophie said. "Have you seen her?"

Fitz thought about it for a second. Then he said, "Come to think of it, no. All of yesterday she was supposedly shopping with my mom." Then his eyes widened. "But my mom was home all of yesterday! Where did she

go?" He ran out into the hall with Sophie right behind him. They sprinted into Biana's room, and…

She wasn't there! Sophie and Fitz searched her entire room until Biana's bed covers were hanging off of those the bed, all of the drawers were open, and Biana's makeup supplies were on the floor.

"Where do we go now?" Fitz asked, panic seeping into his features.

" _You_ kids are not going anywhere." A familiar voice said behind them. Both Sophie and Fitz whirled around to see Mr. Forkle and the whole Collective with their disguises behind them.

"Whoa, why's everyone here?" Sophie asked. She feared this was about Biana.

"We're here to rescue Biana." Mr. Forkle said, confirming Sophie's fear.

"How are we gonna get her back?" Fitz asked. Sophie noticed the tremble in his voice. "We don't even know if she's in trouble. And if she is, we don't know where she is."

"Well, we do." Mr. Forkle said. "We got a little help though." He stepped to the side of the doorway to let someone in.

"Well, hello, Sophie. Didn't think we'd meet so soon." Kalendi said. She was followed in by another woman and a man. They were wearing wearing Vengeance cloaks with melders in their hands, unlike Kalendi, who carried a Dualabrys. "Sadly, this isn't the best time to chat. We're preparing for war."

 **(A/N) Okay, guys. I think it's impossible to end a chapter without a cliffhanger. I honestly think the previous chapter wasn't a cliffhanger, but I could be wrong. So... I think I might stop updating On the Run, but then make another story with one shots and short stories using the characters from this one. I don't know! But thanks to those who reviewed, and... yeah. Again, sorry for going a month without updating!**


	10. Chapter 10

**(A/N) Hello! Wow, it's been a long time! Let's get right into the story! I might have trouble writing this, so I apologize in advance. Prepare for a short chapter!**

 **Chapter Ten**

"Wow…" Everyone in the group breathed. Opticalium had transported them all to an elegant dome with beautiful chandeliers that casted a yellow-orange glow over them.

" _This_ is a war base?" Sophie asked in disbelief. It was too pretty! It looked like a place someone would want their wedding at or something.

Kalendi nodded. "Don't let the looks fool you. This is one of our most well defended bases. Or should I say it _is_ our most well defended base. Apparently the Neverseen have invaded all of our others."

Sophie couldn't believe that the Neverseen even dared to attack the Vengeance. They seemed _way_ too organized and dangerous to ever fall. They even had better plans than the Black Swan!

Kalendi seemed to know what Sophie was thinking. "Our other hideouts were too busy preparing the new arrivals and helping the Black Swan get settled in, they didn't notice the Neverseen until it was too late."

"Does that mean that some of the Black Swan are…" Fitz asked. Sophie was too busy mentally pleading, _please no, please none of them_ to fully catch Kalendi's next sentence. All she heard was, "It was…"

Judging by the looks of Fitz's face, Kalendi had confirmed that some of the Black Swan will not be coming back soon. Sophie just hoped that none of them were the ones that she knew. No one deserved what happened to Sophie and Dex!

"Enough chat. We need to get you all inside. We're preparing for an attack." Kalendi and the other Vengeance elves hustled the Collective, Sophie, and Fitz into a hidden trapdoor that Sophie couldn't see until they opened it. Or they kind of dissolved it. Kalendi just waved her hand over it, and then is faded away. She instructed everyone to hide in there, and wait for the second horn to sound.

"The first one," she explained, "is to inform all Vengeance and Black Swan members that the fight has started. The second one is a distress signal, only sounded when we're about to fall. Wait for that one, and you'll know what to do when it happens. Jurek, you stay with them."

Sophie and Fitz both gaped in astonishment as the Sanctuary's Alicorn caretaker removed his hood and stepped forward. "It would be my pleasure." He said, taking a deep bow. "If you would, follow me."

Sophie and Fitz followed Jurek, still in awe. He was a member of the Vengeance all this time? And by the looks of how he stands right next to Kalendi, he must me a high-ranking member.

The only one in the Collective that followed Jurek as well was Tiergan. They all descended into a deep tunnel, only to find themselves in a dead-end room. "We wait here." Jurek said.

So they sat down on the cold, hard floor. The trapdoor had re-sealed itself, so there wasn't really any light. So all they could do was wait.

The horn sounded. The fight had begun. This was only the beginning. By the end of this, two rebellions will survive. The others will be erased from history.

 **(A/N) Yippee! People are gonna die! I dunno why I'm so excited, but I haven't written on this one is like, two months. So stay tuned, the fight has begun! And yup, this was a pathetically short chapter.**

 **-Verdi**


	11. Chapter 11

(A/N) Ah... so this is the chapter that everything happens... so let's get right into this!

RR:

Darling01: Aw, thanks, I was worried nobody was reading it. You just made my day! Thank you!

Chapter Eleven

It had been an hour of suffocating silence. Sophie was starting to get claustrophobic. She'd had a loooong time to think about everything, and she was now thinking about how there's nothing left to think about.

She'd been worrying about Dex, Keefe, and Biana. Oh, Biana, why did you have to get taken? What did they want her for? If they hurt her, they will have Sophie to deal with.

But why Biana? Why not Sophie or Fitz or Dex? Was there something they want from her? And why weren't Dex and Keefe with them?

Sophie was ashamed that that thought just crossed her mind. "Why aren't everyone else with us?" She asked Jurek. Come to think of it, Grady and Edaline weren't here either. God, why did she just think of that?

"Don't worry, they're safe." He said. Jurek seemed to read Sophie's mind with his next statement. "And don't worry about you're parents. All of your friends and family are safe. They've all been taken into hiding... some maybe against their will."

Sophie couldn't get the pictures of Keefe or her parents getting dragged away, screaming and thrashing and thinking they're getting taken to prison by the Neverseen. Sophie shivered.

There's probably nothing to worry about, Fitz transmitted, basically quoting his dad word for word. I'm sure these Vengeance people filled them in by now.

That helped Sophie... a little bit. But she just wondered... why were the Vengeance dragging people away to hide? The last time the Neverseen attacked, they didn't start out a full out war. They just burned Everglen, like that wasn't a big deal.

Sophie's thoughts were interrupted by a loud clanging of swords and an explosion. She flinched and almost cracked her head open in the tiny space. Luckily Fitz caught her.

"Looks like you're still looking for ways to almost die, even when we're not doing anything." Fitz said with a smirk.

Sophie blushed, her cheeks burning. Fortunately she was spared the humiliation of having to respond with a eardrum-destroying air horn-like sound. They all knew what that meant.

Jurek started instructing everyone how to escape. There was a Flexuator (A/N) Is that what it is? I was trying to remember what's that gadget was that changes your density and lets you walk through walls. If you know, please tell me what they are! In the wall, and they were to use it if their little hideout was breached. When Jurek asked if they understood, only Sophie and Fitz answered. Jurek turned to Tiergan, asking him again. Sophie and Fitz had forgotten he was there.

"Oh... yes... I understand." He said, kind of in a trance. Jurek eyed him skeptically, but said nothing.

"Okay then," Jurek said. "Prepare for the worst." Even though Sophie didn't think the Neverseen would know where they were, she followed Jurek's instructions, placing her hand right where the Flexuator was. Fitz placed his hand on hers, and her heart did that stupid fluttery thing. But then Fitz looked right into her eyes, like he was searching for something.

He must have found it, because he whispered, "Sophie, I..."

He never finished, but Sophie was pretty sure she knew what he was going to say.

(A/N) Ooohh! SOPHITZ MOMENTS! If you haven't noticed, I ship Sophitz hard. I might've said that before, so sorry. And... CLIFFHANGERS! I love them, deal with it. I also love Dex! Also, please leave a review so I can see if people are reading, and don't be afraid of telling me if I did something wrong. Just no like, "You spelled _ wrong, you're so terrible!" Kind of stuff. None of that. Sooo... see you next time!

-Verdi


	12. Chapter 12 (Final Chapter)

**(A/N) Hi everyone! Thank you to everyone who's read my stories. I'm so excited for this chapter! Hopefully this won't be _that_ bad. Well, here we go! (I actually don't know where this is gonna go)**

 **Oh, and I was scrolling through the comments of my new story, _Happiness and Tragedies,_ when I said, "Well, I might as well update my other one!" So, here I am!**

 **And this may be the last chapter of _On the Run._ PM or review if you want me to have a sequel!**

 **I've been _really_ busy with school, by the way, which is why I couldn't update in a while, but this chapter isn't one of the ones I threw together in 5 minutes, so I hope you like it!**

 **RR:**

 **Forest Bird: Thank you! And that's okay, recently I've been adding some more stuff you can do. If you can't, that's not a problem though! Thanks for reading!**

 **Waves-Of-Writing: Okay... well, in that case, I'll make sure Sophie abuses the privilege to make people writhe on the floor in pain by unleashing her emotions (lol I'm dying)!**

 **Sokeefe-is-awesome: Well, here's the update! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Side Note:**

 **Does anyone even _do_ review responses anymore? Lol, okay, enjoy.**

 **Chapter 12**

Sophie and Fitz pulled together in a hug. The sounds of a war were ringing through the small crevice where they were cramped into. After a long embrace, they shoved their bodies through the wall, using the Flexuator to change the wall's density. When they emerged, they found themselves in a narrow hallway, kind of like a cave, but _long._ The dim light was swallowed up by darkness, giving the appearance of the cave stretching _forever._

Jurek guided them down, down, down in to the stretching pitch black of nothingness. He held his hand out in front of him like he didn't want him to run into a wall. And to Sophie's surprise, he _did._ He ran his hands along the black wall, and found another Flexuator.

He reached into the wall, but surprisingly his body didn't go into it. He kept himself outside of the other room, like it was a drawer or closet. He pulled out three gadgets that Sophie recognized: melders. He also brought three other small gadgets that looked like caches, but a little bigger. They were like the big marbles that Sophie had played with when she was living with humans.

Jurek held his hand up to silence any questions that Sophie and Fitz might have. "These," he said, gesturing to the orbs, "are our prototype emergency weapons. If you're ever in trouble, throw it at the floor."

"Wha—" Fitz asked, but Jurek silenced him with another hand.

"Follow my instructions if you want to live. Questions later."

Sophie and Fitz both nodded, not wanting to find out the consequences of interrupting.

"Good. The Vengeance predicts that the Council will be following us here, and arresting everyone. If you don't want to have a tribunal, come with me to th—"

Jurek fell to the floor, writhing in agony. It looked like... Sophie couldn't think of how, but it looked like someone inflicted on him. She turned to Fitz. "We need to—OH MY GOSH, WHAT IS HAPPENING FITZ?!"

Fitz's eyes were rolled up into the top of his head like he was a zombie of some sort. Then he snapped out of it. "Let's go, Sophie!" He said. "Let's get out of here!"

"Without Jurek?" She asked. They couldn't leave him!

"Yes." A deep voice boomed. Then Sophie saw it: a cloaked figure, bearing the symbol of the Neverseen.

"You should probably leave him and get my son." The person said. The last words sounded more feminine though. Then it hit Sophie. It was Lady Gisela!

"You..." Sophie started, but couldn't finish. She was with the Neverseen! She couldn't have found her way down here by herself!

"Yes." She said, removing her hood. She had several scars, probably from some gruesome Neverseen punishment, but Sophie could still recognize her. _Keefe's mom._

"Don't hurt your son any more than you already have." Sophie found herself pleading. How could Gisela be so heartless?

"You'll be surprised to find how much _you've_ hurt him."

 _What was that supposed to mean?_

"You'll be surprised at how you don't have a heart." Fitz snapped.

"Insult me, and your consequences will be worse than death." Gisela retorted.

"You're threats are as empty as your soul." Sophie spat, meaning every word. She was a monster, on,y satisfied when she reached her goal. And it had something to do with Keefe.

"Ooh, good one." A new voice said. "Our Foster's getting snarkier and snarkier, right, Fitzy?

Fitz and Sophie and Lady Gisela all rolled their eyes at the same time. "Save your words, Keefe." His mom said. _Another thing that didn't make sense._

Gisela was just pleading to get her son, but now she made it sound like she didn't need him.

"Oh, and just so you know, _mom_ ," Keefe spat, disgust lacing through every syllable, especially the last one. "I heard the whole conversation. And you're cornered."

Keefe walked down the hallway to be right behind his mom, making a Lady Gisela sandwich. They were so close now.

"Oh, that's not to worry." Lady Gisela said. "When I give you what I'm about to give, you'll be thanking me so much, you'll _want_ to let me go."

"Yeah, that's _not_ happening." One of them stated. Sophie wasn't sure who it was, but she was pretty sure they were all thinking the same thing.

"I already have an escape."

Gisela pulled out three leaping crystals, a marble sized gadget, and a piece of paper. The gadget was a cache. Sophie had never seen one, but she'd heard it being described, which is why she knew what it was.

"These crystals will lead you to a safe house, but they are always changing, so there's _no way_ I could find you."

She distributed them among the three friends, and then eggs turned towards the cache and the paper. "And this is Fintan's cache, containing Forgotten Secrets about the Neverseen. The paper holds the passwords. But be careful with it. It is a huge bargaining chip."

"And why should we trust that it's not a weapon and that the crystals are not a trap?" Keefe asked.

"Because I'm with the Vengeance." She said, discarding the Neverseen cloak and showing the double-crossed-axe symbol.

 **Ooh! Cliffhanger! And remember, review and/or PM for sequel. Hm... maybe if there's at least three, I'll make it, 'cause... I kinda abandoned this one for a long time, so I'm not sure if anyone still reads it, so... bye!**

 **-Verdi**


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